Hope is Mandatory

Hope is Mandatory — Original acrylic on canvas, 76 cm × 91 cm

“Hope is mandatory.” These words belong to Rachel Goldberg Polin, who spoke them while her son Hersh was held hostage in the tunnels of Gaza — and continued to speak them after he was murdered there by Hamas.

This painting is a response to that unbearable courage. Ruptured — a collection of short stories by Australian Jewish women written in the aftermath of October 7, 2023 — lies open at the centre of the composition, its pages turned outward. Around it, books that remind us how to live an ordinary, beautiful life alongside the unbearable things that are going on in the world. Whether you feel like a shot of tequila or a strong coffee, we are lucky to have options in how to act and respond to what is happening around us. The vivid green surface against a soft pink backdrop are purposefully life affirming colours to waken the senses and keep us from becoming numb to life.

The contrast is the point. Life continues — reading, gathering, pouring a drink — even when the world has been shattered. This is a painting of witness, of grief held alongside the stubborn, necessary act of going on.

For anyone who has felt the weight of October 7 and chosen, nonetheless, to hope.

Acrylic on canvas · 76 cm × 91 cm · Ready to hang